St Edward's Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Edward’s Church of England Primary School Dovecote, Castle Donington, Derby, Derbyshire DE74 2LH

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 October 2022

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Outcome

St Edward’s Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be part of St Edward’s Church of England Primary School. They list the many things they love about their school: the teachers, the clubs, the ‘gem jar’ treats and the kindness of everyone.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well behaved. In lessons, they listen intently to their teachers. They concentrate hard and help each other with their work. No learning time is lost due to poor behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They say that the adults in school will listen if they have a problem. If pupils are not comfortable telling someone about a problem, they can write their worries down and slip it under the headteacher’s door. Pupils do not worry about bullying. They know they can talk to a trusted adult, who will sort the problem out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils both academically and personally. The school’s values are at the heart of this work. Pupils know these values well. They understand how they impact on the day-to-day life of the school. For example, the value of love means that they should treat everyone well. Everyone is accepted in this inclusive school.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. It is well sequenced so that pupils’ new learning builds on prior knowledge. Curriculum plans identify the key learning that pupils need to know and remember in each lesson. In foundation subject curriculum plans, these lesson-by-lesson learning intentions are broad. The small steps that pupils need to make to reach this intended learning are not always clearly identified.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Teachers explain new concepts to pupils clearly. They plan effective activities that support pupils to grasp the intended learning. Teachers are ambitious for pupils to become skilled in each subject. In history, pupils use technical subject-specific vocabulary to talk about 25 and 26 October 2022

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their work. Year 3 pupils discuss whether the shelters lived in during the Stone Age were from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic periods.

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Teachers make regular checks to ensure that pupils remember what they have learned before. This helps teachers to identify pupils who need further support to understand the intended learning or who need extra practice. Staff also use assessment well to identify and support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These pupils receive carefully crafted provision based on their needs. Staff adapt learning to enable them to access a broad and balanced curriculum. Leaders are ambitious for these pupils to do as well as they can. Every effort is made to remove any possible barrier to their learning. This includes social and emotional needs, as pupils who struggle to manage their feelings are supported to self-regulate so they can focus on their learning.

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Children in the Reception Year start to learn phonics from their first week in school. Staff are trained to deliver the chosen phonics programme effectively. Phonics is taught using a consistent approach. Pupils read books that are closely matched to the sounds they know. Pupils, including those who find reading more challenging, regard themselves as good readers. They read the books that are given to them with ever-increasing fluency and confidence.

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Pupils can talk with enthusiasm about the books and authors they love. Story time is a special part of every day. However, leaders do not have an overview of the texts that are read to pupils in each year group. This means that they cannot assure themselves that pupils are accessing increasingly challenging texts as they move through the school.

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Leaders provide pupils with many experiences and opportunities to support their personal development. The school’s curriculum goes far beyond meeting pupils’ academic needs. Pupils learn about healthy lifestyles and relationships in an age-appropriate way. They understand that prejudice should not be tolerated. One pupil said, ‘Everyone is unique… that’s ok.’ Pupils also learn about different faiths. Year 5 pupils are producing a podcast to tell others about Hinduism after their visit to a Hindu temple and school. The school has close links with two schools in Kenya. This helps pupils to understand how life is different, and the same, in another part of the world. Individual personal development is celebrated. Each year, a pupil who demonstrates the school values is awarded the ‘Spirit of St Edward’s Award’. The ‘Rising Star Award’ is presented to a pupil who has overcome a personal challenge.

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Leaders consider staff’s workload. Staff say that the school is a happy place to work in. They feel supported by leaders. Staff morale is high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders, including governors, prioritise safeguarding. Leaders make sure that staff receive relevant and up-to-date training. Staff are alert to any possible safeguarding concerns about pupils. They pass their concerns on promptly. Safeguarding leaders take all 25 and 26 October 2022

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concerns raised seriously. They act without delay. Leaders work well with external agencies to make sure that vulnerable pupils, and their families, get the help they need.

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The school has an effective personal, social and health education curriculum. Pupils are taught about how to report and deal with any risks they meet both in and outside of school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Foundation subject curriculum plans set out what pupils need to know and remember at the end of each lesson. However, learning intentions are broad and do not identify the small steps of learning that pupils need to make to acquire this cumulative knowledge. This means that teachers decide how they should break the learning into smaller chunks, and this may result in inconsistencies. Leaders should ensure that curriculum plans explicitly identify the key knowledge that pupils need to know and remember as pupils work towards the intended learning.  Leaders do not have a coherent overview of the books that pupils will have read to them in each year group. As a result, leaders are not able to track and analyse the books that pupils access. They are not clear as to whether books become more challenging for pupils as they move through the school. Leaders should ensure that books are strategically chosen to ensure that pupils are read to from an ever-

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

increasingly demanding range of high-quality texts.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2012.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 25 and 26 October 2022

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 25 and 26 October 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Elizabeth Mandeville

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School details

Date of previous inspection 31 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school is a voluntary-controlled school in the Diocese of Leicester. The school’s last inspection of its religious character took place in September 2017.  The school runs a breakfast and after-school club, which is managed by the governing body.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, subject leaders and other members of staff. She met with two members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. She also held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. 25 and 26 October 2022

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, reviewed curriculum plans, visited lessons, looked at samples of pupils’ work and spoke to pupils and teachers from the lessons visited. The inspector observed pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector reviewed further curriculum plans for geography, physical education and music.  The inspector met with the designated safeguarding leads to discuss the school’s arrangements for keeping pupils safe. She also checked the school’s safeguarding policy, the records kept by the school and the single central record.  Pupils’ behaviour was observed in lessons and at lunchtime. The inspector also spoke to staff and pupils about behaviour in school.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted Parent View and free-text messages. She

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met with parents at the start of the school day. The inspector also reviewed the responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Caroline Poole, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 25 and 26 October 2022

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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